The City of Vancouver intends to have a seismic manager in place by next month to establish a plan to reduce the earthquake risk to privately owned buildings.

The manager is to be in place by July 4, fulfilling a pledge last December by the city to create the dedicated position this year.

The city’s move followed an investigation by The Vancouver Sun and Province newspapers published last year that revealed the city had failed to create a proactive plan to reduce the seismic hazard of the city’s older private buildings, numbering in the thousands, despite identifying a need to do so more than two decades ago.

The city developed a first plan more than 20 years ago because scientific knowledge was increasing about the risks of a quake, including of the so-called Big One, a slippage of tectonic plates off the coast of Vancouver Island. Scientists peg the probability of a major damaging quake in a populated area in B.C. at 30 per cent in the next 50 years.

The seismic manager — officially called project lead of seismic mitigation for high-risk buildings — will review best practices around the world, consult with experts and stakeholders in at-risk neighbourhoods and work with city staff.

The seismic manager will also work with experts to develop criteria to classify buildings based on earthquake risk, as well as enhance the city’s seismic-hazard data and analysis in co-ordination with the province and other municipalities.

Recommendations may result in the establishment of new bylaws, policies and programs, as well as changes to staff procedures within several departments, according to the job posting. Recommendations would go to city council for consideration.

The seismic manager position is for two years at a salary in the $100,000 range.

“The implementation of actions and recommendations will extend over time, depending on the scope and scale,” city spokesman Jag Sandhu said in a written statement. Sandhu said the city also expects that implementation of some recommendations could involve other agencies and levels of government.

University of B.C. civil-engineering Prof. Carlos Ventura, an expert in earthquake resiliency of buildings, called the hiring a big step forward toward effective seismic-risk management of Vancouver.

“We still have a large inventory of deficient buildings and this person could certainly help identify where are the areas where the risk is greater and then develop mitigation plans for short- and long-term goals,” said Ventura, director of the Earthquake Engineering Research Facility at UBC.

Port Alberni tsunami damage on March 30, 1964, following an Alaskan earthquake.

A drawback of the Vancouver position, however, he said, is that it’s only a two-year position, noting he doubted that much could be done in that period except planning. And Ventura said it would be better if other municipalities in the Lower Mainland took similar action, noting only North Vancouver has studied the issue in any detail.

The City of Vancouver developed plans to reduce the seismic risk of older buildings in 1994, 2000 and again in 2011, but never followed through.

For example, in the 1994 initiative, the city considered mandatory seismic assessments, deadlines for mandatory upgrades, public disclosure of the seismic risk of buildings and possibly even requiring signs on buildings that weren’t upgraded. Also considered at the time were incentives for seismic upgrades, such as waving building-permit fees, property-tax relief and low-interest loans. These strategies — none of which have been adopted here — have been used in California since at least the 1980s.

There is no law in Vancouver or any other B.C. municipality that requires older buildings to meet modern seismic safety standards. Some buildings in Vancouver have received seismic upgrades when changes-of-use or major renovations have triggered bylaw requirements.

But of the more than 1,100 buildings included in a seismic-risk assessment by the city in 1994, hundreds appear to have had no seismic upgrades, The Sun and Province’s probe discovered.

Vancouver resident Franke James had pressed the city’s new general manager of planning, urban design and sustainability, Gil Kelley, at a public event last year on how seismic upgrades would be encouraged or mandated.

She said she was thrilled that the seismic manager position was being created, saying the city needs to take a carrot-and-stick approach.

“Seismic upgrades are fundamental to the resiliency of Vancouver. Earthquakes around the world show us that having strict seismic bylaws can make the difference in preventing loss of life and extensive property damage,” said James, who lives in a brick heritage building in Gastown.

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